Baca targeted by protesting Minutemen

SAN BERNARDINO - Members of the Minuteman Project on Thursday protested in front of Rep. Joe Baca's district office, urging the Democratic congressman to oppose a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

A small group carried "No Amnesty" and "No Guest Worker Program" signs and waved American flags during the protest at E and Second streets.

"It's time that (Baca) stood up for the legal American citizens," said Mary Ann Rohde, a 72-year-old Rialto resident. "He's not representing us. We're his constituents."

Mazelle Dyke, a 62-year-old San Bernardino resident, said illegal immigrants are "coming across the border in droves" to take jobs from U.S. workers struggling to survive in dismal economic times.

Protesters criticized Baca for his recent statements that the incoming Obama administration and new Congress should enact a law to allow the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants to gain legal status.

They called on Baca to take a stance in favor of enforcing immigration laws, securing U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, and pardoning two former Border Patrol agents convicted in the 2005 shooting of an illegal immigrant drug smuggler near El Paso, Texas.

Baca was not in his office during the protest because he was traveling to New Mexico to give a commencement address at the University of New Mexico, said spokesman Mike Trujillo.

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Trujillo said Baca has made his position clear on the issue of pardoning former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who are serving federal prison sentences.

"If they were doing their job legally, they deserve all the protections of the badge," Trujillo said. "If they went beyond the law, they, like any citizen, are subject to the laws of the land."

The Minuteman protest was originally scheduled Monday but was postponed until Thursday due to rain. Baca was asked about the protest in an interview Tuesday.

"They hate the fact that the demographics of our society are changing," said Baca, the outgoing chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "They're not trying to solve problems. We have to deal with the reality that the (immigration) system is broken. People are still here. People have to come out of the shadows. It's not going to happen unless we address it."

Robin Hvidston, the Minuteman Project's national rally coordinator, said the group's opposition to illegal immigration has nothing to do with race.